The lonely mountain

Shayn knelt by the stream, dipping a long blade of grass into it for several seconds. Nothing happened. 

"I think it's safe," He declared, walking back to where the others in the party had paused. They had performed this test, or a similar one, at each water source they'd come across, even though Gabriel had drunk from them all on his way to them.

Since the poison in the water was spreading, they'd rather be careful than wind up seriously injured or worse. 

The horses were let to drink, and Shayn moved upstream to refill the water supplies. He'd gotten used to the halflings' stoic faces over the past few days, though he still didn't like them. 

Gabriel and Victoria seemed more comfortable with their small traveling partners, often drawing them into conversation. It was clever, for there was much to be learned from their shorter counterparts. Shayn just couldn't get past their weird, creepy smiles. 

Which they only offered when making extra effort to be friendly, Gabriel had told him. That seemed to make it creepier, not better. 

So he avoided them when he could, though that was difficult in such a small group. Kyler seemed content with the non-humans, if warier than the two youngest of the group. 

Shayn yawned. Watch the night before had been long and boring. It had been hard to stay awake, but he'd been alert enough to catch the sound of Jerry trying to saw his bonds off against the corner of a wooden box. 

The soldier had tightened the bonds, and then hauled the prisoner out of the wagon, securing him to a tree. 

"If you're going to abuse the shelter we're so generous to provide you, you can sleep out here instead," Shayn had warned him. 

He, Kyler, and Walter had debated the merits of keeping the man at all. On the one hand, he was a thief and kidnapper, and might be worse except that Simone had gotten free before anything more could occur. 

On the other hand, his Boss was still loose in the wild somewhere. Since neither of the women saw his face, nor knew his habits, Jerry might be useful in apprehending the fiend eventually. 

Though, Shayn had to admit, that was unlikely. The army would be needed for far more important matters than simply hunting down a single fugitive in the remote wilderness. 

Still, he supposed the correct thing to do would be to take him to trial. Perhaps they could drop him off in the next town for that instead of waiting until Klain. According to the map, they shouldn't be too far from it, but a resupply of clean water warranted an extra stop. 

Simone approached with several larger waterskins, now empty, over one shoulder. 

"You have wonderful timing, I've only now finished filling these," Shayn smiled at her, and traded the empty for the full. "Thank you." 

She frowned for a moment, and he stared back before speaking again. "What is it? Do I have something on my face?" He passed his hand over his chin, and she shook her head. 

"I'll never get used to compliments from you. They feel strange." She admitted. 

"Would you rather I insult you?" His lips twitched in amusement. 

"That would be more familiar," She grimaced, and so did he. They were still trying to navigate not constantly being at each other's throats. It was a little awkward, and took enormous effort on both their parts.

But, it felt wrong to go back to constant bickering when they now knew it was avoidable. 

"All right then," He looked at her and scanned her from head to toe to find something to insult. He was caught in her gaze for a moment before he finally found something to hurl criticism at. "Your shoes are dirty." 

She scoffed lightly. "So are everyone's. We've been traveling for weeks!" 

"But yours are especially so," He doubled down on his chosen insult. "By far the least appealing shoes in this company… apart from Jerry, who doesn't count." 

Simone peered down, lifting her skirt barely an inch so that she could examine her own shoes more closely. 

"I will concede, my shoes are indeed dirty," She nodded, "and rather worn. I will have to get new ones when we get back to Klain." 

"Unlikely," Gabriel put in as he walked up to fill his personal waterskin. "All spare supplies are being used for the Cetoan refugees. I'm afraid it will be a long time before any of us is able to get new shoes or clothing." 

Shayn frowned. He'd been teasing, trying to find some way to insult Simone without truly insulting her, but did she need new shoes? Her skirt fell back into place as she assured Gabriel she was only teasing, that she didn't really need anything new. 

Was she being unduly humble? There wasn't a way for him to find out. He wondered if her feet were about the same size as his sister in law, Ashley's. The woman had more shoes than she knew what to do with, many of them hardly ever worn. Maybe she would be willing to give some to Simone when they returned. 

No, that wouldn't do. She would tell Riley, who would obviously never let it go. Couldn't be that Shayn wanted to do a kindness for someone, Riley would assume it was romantic interest and double or triple his matchmaking efforts. 

And then it would get back to Mayra. 

No, he would have to figure out a different way to make sure Simone got what she needed. 

The ground shook, interrupting his contemplation. "What in the world–" 

"It's about to open." Tom pointed North, and Shayn's blood ran cold. 

"Do we run? Hide?" The man asked warily, and all eyes focused on the halfling. 

"We should be out of its immediate reach by now," He opined, "Though, now that we've learned from Gabriel that the portals can appear in the sky and drop things, it has called into question the wisdom of us being even this close."

The group's eyes turned North. The past few days' travel had made the new mountain barely visible now, but its growth was obvious even from this distance.

"How long?" Victoria chirped, but she didn't need to wait for an answer. At the very peak of the mountain, reality shimmered and tore. A portal almost as large as the mountain itself glimmered, undulating in the afternoon sky. 

Shayn squinted towards it. The view through it was mostly pink, though it was hard to tell. So far, nothing was coming through, that he could see. That was good, right? 

The seconds passed tensely, and it seemed like the portal might dissipate without incident. The group held their breaths and waited, watching in silent concentration. 

Just before the portal seemed about to close, it wavered in the air, and four enormous giants came tumbling down the mountain, one after another. Did something else fall as well? 

The portal snapped shut behind them, and the halflings tensed. 

"The giants are our allies, aren't they?" Victoria asked hopefully. 

"They were," Walter cut his eyes to her, "but it's been years. Who knows what they are now. I remember tracking and setting traps for them human-eaters in the last war." 

Shayn remembered the giantess who fell in the great battle inside Klain. She had been badly wounded and fainted with goblin poison in her. There had only been three other giants, as far as he knew. She must have survived, then. 

"Should we go meet with them, take them to Klain?" Shayn asked. "If they decide to head there on their own, they will surely beat us there." 

"We should find if they are friend or foe," Gabriel said cautiously, "I have another messenger bird in case of the worst." 

Ten years could change much. While Shayn hoped that they were still friendly towards humans, there were no guarantees. 

"I think one or two of us should go ahead and meet them while the others hang back in hiding. Pre-write a message about the giants to send in case the situation becomes such that you don't have time to give more detail. If the giants attack, attach the message to the bird and flee." Shayn was confident in the plan, but kept his words neutral so the others would feel welcome to disagree. 

None did. 

"I'll go." He declared after a moment. 

"I'll go too," Simone spoke up, surprising them all. She ducked her head at the attention, but raised her chin defiantly after a second. "I've read everything there is to know on giants, from fairy tales to the personal recollections and journals of the royal family and others who had direct dealings with them before. I am likely the most qualified to liaison with them." 

"Apart from having no battlefield training or experience whatsoever," Shayn grumbled. 

"Will your battlefield training and experience allow you to prevail against four giants, alone?" Simone arched a single eyebrow in that old, irritating, superior way of hers. 

"Not in the least," He glared at her.